Echo dot gen 3 always muted with red ring

[chp357]

Hi,
I've had this gen 3 dot for a few months for my grandkids. It is rarely used but it did work fine. until a couple days ago. I walked past the girls room and noticed the dot had a red ring around it and the mute button was also red. Tried pressing the button to unmute it but nothing happened. Still red. Tried unplugging for several minutes and then power up again. When the power on was complete the mute button is still red and the light ring also is red. Did a complete factory reset, Alexa says going into setup mode then says resetting. After a minute or so says it is setup  mode but the bitton is red along with the light ring as well. Tried this a couple times, same result. After reset the dot can find the wifi and says it is ready for use but I can't speak to it because the button says it is muted. Any idea how to correct this isssue? Any ideas are welcome. Thank you for your time.

[jwlv]

Sounds like the mute button is stuck or broken in such a way that it is always electrically on.

If it's within warranty, you should give Amazon a call and get it replaced.  According to Amazon the Echo Dot gen 3 has a 1 year warranty. https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GDXJ4LXEEA4QNDXF#:~:text=One%2DYear%20Limited%20Warranty&text=We%20warrant%20the%20Device%20against,date%20of%20original%20retail%20purchase.

If you're unsure whether your Echo Dot is still under warranty, give them a call and they can look it up.